


Sleepless Morning

by gold_tree



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Family Feels, Family Fluff, Good Parent Din Djarin, Soft Din Djarin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:48:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28726872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gold_tree/pseuds/gold_tree
Summary: Grogu refuses to go to sleep, causing Din to dig through years of childhood trauma and turmoil to come up with a good way to make him go to bed.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 56





	Sleepless Morning

Din was woken by something tapping gently on the back of his helmet. It felt like seconds since he had crawled into the compartment and pulled a thin blanket around himself, ready to turn in for the night, but he realized as he slowly woke up that it must have been hours since. He rolled over, finding the light pull and tugging it sharply, illuminating his surroundings and, in front of him, Grogu, who was poking at his head with his little fingernail. The child squeaked, tilting his head at him.   
Din sighed heavily, hoisting himself upright, and picked Grogu up, setting him back in his hammock.  
“It’s time to sleep, buddy,” he said groggily. “Can’t be waking me up. I’ve got to fly tomorrow.”  
Grogu reached out his arms, blubbering a little.  
“No,” Din insisted. He pulled a blanket over Grogu’s little body. “Sleep. Come on. Shut your eyes.”  
His eyes remained wide open, staring up at him. He blinked.  
“Dank farrik...” Din switched the lights off and leaned against the wall. “Lights are off. Time to go to sleep. Don’t wake me up again.”  
There was a solitary, lonely squeak before the compartment fell back into silence. Din closed his eyes, leaning his head against the corner, and was just drifting off when something ricocheted off his helmet, causing him to exclaim in surprise and instinctively reach for his blaster. He switched the light back on as quickly as he could to find Grogu, hand reached out as if he had just thrown something, and his little silver ball lying on the floor beside Din. He picked it up and shoved it into his pocket.  
“No,” he scolded, holding out a finger threateningly. “No, we don’t throw things. You understand? No throwing.”  
Grogu burbled and waved his arms about. He seemed to be smiling.  
“Grogu,” Din said sternly. That got his attention. “No throwing. Let me sleep, alright?”  
The child let out a small shriek.  
“What? What is it?” Din asked. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”  
Grogu burbled some more, and Din cursed to himself. “You know what? Fine. Alright. You want to be awake? Let’s be awake.”

Grogu squealed as the ship roared to life. Din had sat him on the dashboard, right in front of the window, so he could see the lights of the planet below fade as they made their way into the sky. He was awake now, quite fully. He didn’t expect to be going back to sleep anytime soon. He only hoped he could somehow make Grogu drift off.  
“Three revolutions,” he said, teasing the throttle, “and then we go back. Okay?”  
Grogu purred, bumping his head against the window pane.  
Din checked the scanners and peered around the ship before really putting any thrust into the engines, just to be sure. He didn’t want to have to do any fancy flying, just produce enough white noise and movement to get the kid to nod off. For a while, they flew in silence, save for a few soft squeaks from Grogu, who looked down at the planet below with wide eyes that sparkled in their reflection on the window. Din smiled a bit. He couldn’t help himself, really. He did try to play it cool when the were out in public, but when he was alone with the kid... it all spilled out. Seeing Grogu like this made him remember his childhood, what he never had, what he could never have. A family. For Grogu, that was him he supposed. Being raised by the Mandalorians wasn’t the sort of childhood he would ever want for the kid. It’s not that he regretted anything, only that sometimes he wondered what it would have been like if the Imperials hadn’t come. If his parents had lived. What sort of life would he lead then? Would it be any better than this one?  
Every time he had a thought like this, his eyes would turn to the child and he would come to a realization, a thought he tried to push away countless times but that always managed to crawl back. He wouldn’t trade what he had for the world. His childhood, the countless hours training, studying, hunting, the years of solitude and the lack of love and compassion he received as a child, he wouldn’t give it up for anything, because it somehow lead him here, soaring high above the atmosphere, a small speck in the galaxy that somehow wasn’t alone anymore. That somehow had found his own family. That had endured all the heartbreak, all the pain, all the suffering, all the loneliness, and had found its place in the universe. Its purpose. It was sitting right in front of him, ears perked up, little hands pressed against the glass, showing no sign of drifting off to sleep but somehow he was alright with that. He could postpone his trip, couldn’t he? The Guild could wait. There were far more important things to attend to.   
He turned the ship around slowly, pressing on the throttle. Grogu looked up in surprise and made a little gurgle.  
“Hang on, kid,” Din said, steering the ship downward, back to the surface. “I want to show you something.”

They landed at the bottom of a rocky slope. It was still dark, though light was just starting to tint the sky a reddish-purple. Din carried Grogu up and onto the top of the ridge, carrying in his other hand a small thermos. He set Grogu on top of a rock and sat down beside him, unscrewing the cap.  
“Grogu,” he said, nodding in front of them. “Watch the horizon.”  
The child made a confused blubber, but turned toward the jagged landscape that lay ahead. Din poured him a small capful of soup and handed it to him, then lifted his helmet slightly to take a sip from the thermos. He heard a surprised shout and tilted his helmet back down, smiling.  
The suns had broken the horizon and were steadily climbing. You could almost see them move ever so slightly if you looked hard enough. Light spilled over with them, golden and red and orange, creating a dazzling shroud of colour. Grogu shreiked, lifting his arms up. His cup clattered to the ground, and Din retrieved it for him.  
“Pretty good, isn’t it?” he said, pouring him some more soup. “You’ve got to drink something, come on.”  
Grogu took the cup from him, eyes transfixed on the spectacle in front of him.  
Din leaned back on a rock behind him, and took his helmet off, letting the breeze brush through his hair. He set it to the side and took a small sip of soup. This is what he missed. Moments like these. Moments of joy, wonder, and this feeling that crept into his chest whenever he experienced them. His eyes wandered away from the suns and to Grogu. Love. That was it. The feeling of love. The feeling he had been deprived of, that had been stolen from him. The feeling that he swore he would provide plenty of to Grogu, even if it meant dying for it. This child meant everything to him. He was Din’s second chance, in a way; his second chance to make things right, to provide someone with a bit of what he never got. He caught Grogu as he slumped over, exhaustion finally overcoming his small body, and pulled him onto his lap. He had the rest of his life to make the beginning of Grogu’s perfect, and there was never a better time to start than now.


End file.
